Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Every time I think about attending an event, a talk, or a mixer by myself, there is always that twinge of anxiety, especially being used to connecting people together and convincing them to come with me to things that I don't want to go to by myself. Tonight, although I still had the - I don't want to go by myself and how will I talk with people I don't know - moment, I forced myself out the door and into a situation where I didn't know if I would know, recognize or connect with anyone there. I once again was reminded that, I will meet people and that I really enjoy meeting people solo. It allows me to be the bold, carefree, I don't care if you're judging me Naomi that I really love to be. Introducing myself to a group of strangers with a glass of wine in one hand and my hand shake in the other, it's always a thrill and it always creates new connections and potential friendships. I write this post, not to pat myself on the back, but to remind myself that I do enjoy going to things solo and should continue to do so. It always expands my social circles and my understanding of the many different people where I live. Having a "wing-person" at my side, while fun and comforting, doesn't allow me to network and reach out as much as I can by myself. So I hope this solo pattern continues for a while, it's always a surprisingly good time!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Richard Cohen has a great piece in the Washington Post today on how words can kill and that the rhetoric being spewed from different people and view points around the U.S. remind him of the Vietnam War protest days and how words led to bullets and American soldiers killed American students. It reminds us of the lessons we have learned and the lessons we should not have to learn again.

The governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, demonized the war protesters. They were "worse than the Brownshirts and the communist element. . . . We will use whatever force necessary to drive them out of Kent."

That was the language of that time. And now it is the language of our time. It is the language of Glenn Beck, who fetishizes about liberals and calls Barack Obama a racist. It is the language of rage that fuels too much of the Tea Party and is the sum total of gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino's campaign message in New York. It is all this talk about "taking back America" (from whom?) and this inchoate fury at immigrants and, of course, this raw anger at Muslims, stoked by politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Lazio, the latter having lost the GOP primary to Paladino for, among other things, not being sufficiently angry. "I'm going to take them out," Paladino vowed at a Tea Party rally in Ithaca, N.Y.

Back in the Vietnam War era, the left also used ugly language and resorted to violence. But the right, as is its wont, stripped the antiwar movement of its citizenship. It turned dissent into treason, which, in a way, was the worst treason of all. It made dissidents into the storied "other" who had nothing in common with the rest of us. They were not opponents; they were the enemy: Fire!

These lessons should always be remembered by public diplomats as our words and that influence are the most powerful weapons.